Grammys
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In June, the Recording Academy announced five new competitive categories for the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 5, 2023, hosted by Trevor Noah. The additions spotlight performers, songwriters, video game soundtrack composers and more, with CEO Harvey Mason Jr. telling Billboard at the time, “We’re doing it in a way to make sure we’re representing music and that’s ultimately our goal.”
With the music industry always evolving, Billboard asked artists spanning several genres,What category would you like to see the Recording Academy add to the Grammys next and why? See their responses below:
Omar Apollo: I’d love for the Recording Academy to add an engineer of the year award. Engineers are so important to the musical process and should get as much shine as producers and writers. Thank you to my engineer, Nathan Phillips — he was a big part of the process for my album, Ivory.
Taylor Bennett: I would love to see hip-hop join the Grammy categories. For years now, I’ve seen record stores, digital streaming platforms and awards shows branding “hip-hop/rap.” Although hip-hop and rap can be considered close cousins, I do believe there is great distinction between the two.
Priscilla Block: Best new (genre) artist: As a new artist, it means the entire world to get recognized by an association as prestigious as the [Recording Academy]. There is so much new talent in every genre, so I think it would add a lot to the Grammys to recognize each one’s best new artist. These are the rising stars that will turn into music’s next superstars.
Robert Glasper: Best mixed genre album: This category doesn’t exist. It’s for the people who make albums that represent and speak to more than one genre of music!
Gryffin: I would like to see the Recording Academy add best electronic/dance producer. Due to the nature of dance/electronic music, most artists [nominated] are producers, and it would be incredible for the Recording Academy to recognize the producers in the space who are innovating and pushing the genre forward. I believe that there are so many incredible producers who are pushing the boundaries of electronic dance music whose songs may not qualify under the best dance/electronic song or album categories.
Wet Leg: Best lo-fi recording. Our track “Angelica” was recorded on the Isle of Wight in our living room on a laptop with just a few mics. It would be great to have a category that highlights other artists who are making music in this way despite not having access to many resources.
Lolo Zouaï: It would be cool to have a special bilingual album category — not language-specific — to highlight all the multilingual artists out right now mixing English with other languages. Either that or a category awarding independently released albums that doesn’t focus on genre necessarily.
Kim Petras: The category I would add to the Grammys would be “the biggest slay,” of course. Woo-ah!
A version of this story originally appeared in the Dec. 17, 2022, issue of Billboard.
Shaggy’s Com Fly Wid Mi, which consists of 11 songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, is competing for a Grammy in the best reggae album category. The album’s title, of course, is a reggafied twist on Sinatra’s jet-age classic “Come Fly With Me.”
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Two previous Sinatra tribute albums won Grammys for best traditional pop vocal album – Tony Bennett’s Perfectly Frank (1992) and Willie Nelson’s My Way (2018). Seven others were nominated in that category — Barry Manilow’s Manilow Sings Sinatra (1999), Keely Smith’s Keely Sings Sinatra (2001), Michael Feinstein’s The Sinatra Project (2008), Bob Dylan’s Shadows in the Night (2015), Fallen Angels (2016) and Triplicate (2017) and Nelson’s That’s Life (2021).
The Recording Academy says Shaggy’s album was submitted in the best reggae album category and was accepted by the reggae screening committee. It was never considered in the traditional pop category.
Copy on the front cover of the album describes the project this way: “The Sinatra songbook inna reggae style. Sung by Shaggy. Produced by Sting.” Sting also sings on two of the tracks, “You Make Me Feel So Young” and “Witchcraft.” A collaborative album by Sting and Shaggy, 44/876, won a Grammy for best reggae album four years ago.
The other tracks on Com Fly Wid Mi are “That’s Life,” “Come Fly with Me,” “That Old Black Magic,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Luck Be a Lady,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” [shown here as “Under My Skin”], “Saturday Night Is the Loneliest Night of the Week” [shown here as “Saturday Night”), “Angel Eyes” and “Witchcraft” [a guitar and vocal “bonus track”].
This is Shaggy’s eighth nomination for best reggae album. He has won twice in the category for Boombastic (1995) and the aforementioned 44/876. Shaggy’s only nomination outside of this category was for “It Wasn’t Me,” a collab with Ricardo “RikRok” Ducent, which was nominated for best pop collaboration with vocals. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in February 2001.
Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” was one of his most iconic hits. His album of the same name topped the Billboard 200 for five consecutive weeks in February and March 1958 and received Grammy nominations for album of the year and best vocal performance, male in the first year of the Grammys. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004.
Sinatra, widely regarded as one of the finest vocalists of the 20th Century, won nine Grammy Awards, from 1958 (best album cover for his design work on Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely) to 1995 (best traditional pop vocal album for Duets II).
Sinatra was the first artist to win album of the year twice, and also the first artist to win it three times. In all the years since, just three other artists have won album of the year three times as a lead artist – Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon (counting a Simon & Garfunkel album) and Taylor Swift. Adele would join their ranks if she wins at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 5.
Sinatra received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 1966, a trustees award in 1979 and a Grammy legend award in 1994. Bono presented the latter award after delivering an exquisitely written speech. A clearly moved Sinatra, who was 78 at that point, started to ramble in his acceptance remarks. Unfortunately, the Grammy production team cut him off mid-speech and cut to a commercial. The explanation was they didn’t want the great star to embarrass himself on live TV. That may well be, but it could have been handled with more foresight and grace. This was Sinatra’s final appearance on the Grammy telecast. He died in 1998 at age 82.
This year’s other nominees for best reggae album are Kabaka Pyramid’s The Kalling, Koffee’s Gifted, Sean Paul’s Scorcha and Protoje’s Third Time’s the Charm.
The Grammy rules for best traditional pop vocal album say this about what the category is intended to honor: “This category is for performances of a type and style of song that cannot properly be intermingled with present forms of pop music. This includes older forms of traditional pop such as the Great American Songbook, created by the Broadway, Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the period between the 1920s and the end of World War II, as well as cabaret/musical theater-style songs and previous forms of contemporary pop. This would also include contemporary pop songs performed in traditional pop style — the term ‘traditional’ being a reference, equally, to the style of the composition, vocal styling and the instrumental arrangement, without regard to the age of the material.”
When two of the most singular voices in music history first came together 15 years ago, it’s not surprising that alchemized harmonies and pure, uncut vibe came as a result. Upon melding their vocals on the 2007 collaborative album Raising Sand, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss translated traditional Americana into mainstream consciousness by force of personality, expanding on Krauss’ extensive repertoire within the genre and furthering the work in the sound for Plant, whose own predilection for Americana had been a benchmark of popular music since he first lamented, “I can’t quit you baby,” 53 years ago on Led Zeppelin‘s cover of Willie Dixon’s Delta blues scorcher.
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But in a testament to Krauss and Plant’s respective popularity, as well as the delicate yet tantalizing sound they’d created, Raising Sand transcended well beyond fans of folk, bluegrass and blues, becoming a sort of blazing anomoly across popular music at large. The LP hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (where it spent 72 weeks), secured the pair a headlining spot at Bonnaroo, and earned them the 2009 Grammy for album of the year. “In the old days, we would have called this selling out,” Plant said in his acceptance speech, “but it’s a good way to spend a Sunday.”
Then the project went dark, disappearing in a puff of smoke as quickly as it had arrived, as Krauss returned to her longtime band Union Station and Plant worked in the studio and on the road as a solo act and with his own outfits, Band Of Joy and Sensational Shapeshifters. But just like the many listeners who considered Raising Sand a new classic, Krauss and Planet were aware the project was special, with considerations of a reunion occupying their minds during the long hiatus.
“I really wanted to get back to it. I love it,” Plant, 74, tells Billboard, calling from the United Kingdom, where he can be heard puttering around his house during what is there late afternoon.
“Harmony singing is my favorite thing to do,” Krauss, 51, dialing in from mid-morning Nashville, adds of what she and Plant do so especially well together.
So get back to it they did, with the stars realigning last year year for Raise The Roof, another collection of covers by acts as disparate as Calexico, Allen Toussaint and The Everly Brothers, all rendered in a twangy, incandescent style built around the union of Krauss and Plant’s voices. The album — which, like its predecessor, was produced by T Bone Burnett — debuted at No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums, Americana/Folk Albums and Bluegrass Albums charts, and at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. This past summer, an attendant tour included a main stage show at Glastonbury and a performance in London’s Hyde Park (“Basically we were just passing time until the Eagles came on stage,” Plant says of that opening gig), along with three dozen other dates in the U.S. and Europe.
And now, as a surprise to precisely no one, Raise The Roof has garnered some Grammy nominations — three total, for best country duo/group performance (for “Going Where The Lonely Go”), best American roots song (for “High And Lonesome”) and best Americana album. The nods add to Krauss’ mythology as the second-most-awarded woman in Grammys history (after Beyoncé) with 27 wins and 45 nominations. Meanwhile, Plant has eight wins and 18 nominations, the first of which came in 1969 when Zeppelin was up for best new artist. (They lost to Crosby, Stills and Nash.)
“The very fact that it’s has been recognized that we’ve had a good time,” Plant says of this latest round of nominations, “is more than I could imagine.”
Plant: Hello. Good afternoon.
Krauss : Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Plant: Hello Alison! How are ya?
Krauss: Hey, I’m fine! How are you doing?
Plant: Okay, I think we may actually be getting into a place now here on the Welsh borders where it’s starting to get chilly. We had the longest, longest, longest beginning of an autumn, but it’s beautiful. The weather’s good. Things are good. I’m looking forward to going to have a look at this little puppy dog next week, and I’m actually living a normal life, finally.
Krauss: Wow.
Plant: I hate it.
I’m curious about this puppy!
Plant: Well, you know, when I was a kid, my mom was allergic to dog hair and stuff. We never had a fluffy pet or anything like that. So over the last so many years, I’ve always prized these beautiful running dogs. They’re a combination of Greyhound and a terrier.
And the traveling folk, the gypsies and the travelers — you always see them with them; they’re just really beautiful — they’re this kind of dog you see on all those medieval paintings and stuff. There’s always somebody standing behind the blinds with a beautiful animal.
I lost my best dog after 14 years about two or three months ago, and I said I would never have another dog, but life without a dog is difficult for me. But it’s got nothing to do with “Stairway To Heaven,” thank god!
I mean, if you don’t see a connection, there isn’t one.
Plant: No, there isn’t one there. I just had to stop talking about dogs.
Okay, let’s talk about your album then. November 19 marked the year anniversary of the release of Raise The Roof. I’m curious if your relationship to the music changed in any way over the last year, particularly as you’ve been touring it.
Plant: I think that Alison and I became — I mean, we’re partners in every sense, professionally. And we’ve shared every single element and every single part of the creation of the record from the get-go, from the song selections to creating the atmosphere, and we take it into the studio together; we use it when we’re coming up with artwork. I think we’ve just grown a lot tighter and a lot closer, and we share a lot of lighthearted humor, but at the same time I think we’re pretty, professional about how good we want it to be. Would you say so, Alison?
Krauss: I don’t think that there’s a different relationship to it. I mean, you’re always looking for things that speak to you in a truthful way, whether you’re telling someone else’s story, or you’re relaying a message or telling your own story. I don’t think that that’s changed. The fun thing was to pick this up again — like, to have something be so fun and be a total surprise, then get to come back and and get to do it again. To me, when we went back in the studio together, it was like no time had gone by, especially with T Bone. It was a lot of fun. We had some new faces in there, but the energy was very generous, which it always was. So I don’t know if there’s a different relationship to it, just happy to revisit.
Plant: We had no idea how it was going to pan out, and going back together after such a long time was, well — there was a lot riding on it. Were we still able and amenable to exchanging ideas? With material and song choices, a lot runs on how we can perform within these old songs. So yeah, it was interesting to get the ball rolling again and to blow away the cobwebs. But as I said, in that kind of oblique answer, we grew closer, if you like. We were able to take the actual songs and embellish them and develop them for a live show, which made them, I think, quite tantalizing, and there was another energy to them as well.
I saw you guys in Chicago this past June, and it seemed like the vibe onstage was often mellow, and sometimes almost contemplative. What does it feel like to perform these songs live? What mood are you in?
Plant: Well, contemplative, I don’t think so — I think it’s just the nature of the song. You weave in and out of the original form of the music as you heard it, even before you recorded it. The songs have a personality. I just think that we’re very adaptable — we just go into character and we just sing the best that we can within those character settings.
Krauss: I also think this wouldn’t be appealing to us if it wasn’t natural. So I don’t feel like there’s any headspace we have to get into. It just kind of fell into place. It was a natural friendship, and it just translated — we both have a love of history and traditional music, and all the people in the band are the same kind of historians. So it was a natural thing. It didn’t feel like we had to pump ourselves up for it, if that makes sense.
Plant: No, exactly. And I think there’s a kind of melding, a kind of a great coming together on stage, especially with the way the musicians have developed the songs with us. It’s quite a liberation. We’ve been through quite a bit in the last 12 months, with working through the United States and then into Europe. We became real rolling musicians. It was something to behold, because the group personality got more and more, I suppose, charming. And also there was sort of a little bit of a warrior feel, going from country to country to country, through Scandinavia and down into Western Europe and across even into Poland. I do believe we grew more and more into the gig.
Were you able to do things at the end of the tour that weren’t happening in the beginning?
Plant: Sure, yeah. You find a groove that works, and it’s genuine.
How do you maintain the stamina required for such a massive and far-flung tour?
Plant: I think it’s just the will, isn’t it? To want to do it.
Krauss: It helps to be fun!
Plant: Yeah. We do laugh a lot. I mean, it’s not a competitive thing. It’s just such a magnificent and unexpected surprise, to be able to be from such different worlds initially and find that we have our own world. We’ve got our own place.
I read a relatively recent article that described you two as an “odd couple,” and didn’t feel like that description was entirely accurate. How do you feel like you two fit together at this point, after this long collaboration?
Plant: I just think that we’re really, really firm friends. And we confer and listen to each other when we have options. It’s really good, because we don’t tangle. Obviously life off the road is — we’re so far away from each other that these moments of hanging out or telephone conversations, or we’ll be coming back to Nashville in April — all those sort of things is all stuff to look forward to. So we’re never around each other long enough to get tired of anything. It’s just a growing condition, really.
Krauss: Yeah, I mean, it’s a really nice cast of characters in that band, and we enjoy them, and it’s a pleasure. We were happy to get to do it and happy to be going back. It’s something we talked about putting back together for years. It was a really nice idea, and sometimes those things are just a nice idea, but this one [did some back together]. I just feel really grateful. It was a surprise, from start to finish.
Why was last year the right time to come back to the project, after releasing your first album together in 2007?
Plant: I’m not in control of my own time, I just find the momentum in a project and go with it. There’s only a particular lifespan from record to record. In the old days, that was how it worked — if you’re really buying into this as a life, which we are — then as it used to be that there was a cycle of events where you would write or create a record, and you’d follow it through with the usual rigmarole of touring and stuff like that. It always used to be something like a three-and-a-half or four-year thing, from start to finish.
So when we left Raising Sand and said a tearful farewell, we went on to do other projects. And if I’d finish something and I was really looking forward to doing something fresh, maybe Alison was in the middle of one of her projects, and that’s how it was. It was no negotiation except for with the calendar and with time. I also had been on the road a lot with with my friends Sensational Spaceshifters, and this [project with Alison] was just promising to be — offering to be — a totally different experience, or a different feel. I really wanted to get back to it. I love it.
And every night when we sing, two or three of the songs where Alison takes the lead, I always find it such an adventure to join and contribute to her personality as a lead singer. I love that. I didn’t have that for several years. So once the opportunity arose, and we were both free and ready — and free to fail actually, I think would be the term — it’s quite tenuous really to go back in after such a long time, but it worked. These are different days as far as the music biz is concerned, but they’re not different days for us. We’ve got it down, and we know what we’re doing, and we like it.
Krauss: Harmony singing is my favorite thing to do. And he is a…
Plant: Steady. Be careful.
Krauss: [laughs] He always changes in those tunes, night to night, and it keeps me on my toes. I was listening to a show we did in Red Rocks, and the differences and changes in the tunes night to night — the show sounds so good, Robert. It’s just fun, because they really evolve, and it’s a much different environment than what I grew up doing, which is very regimented harmony singing where the whole gig is perfecting it. Like, you don’t go to prom because you’re working on your harmony. This is just a totally different animal, and I just love the way the tunes have changed, even throughout this past summer.
Plant: And all I did was go to prom. I still am! Life could be a dream sh-boom! That’s what happened to me. When I used to open the show for people, you know, stars in the early and mid-60s, I used to go, “Wow, this is so exotic. It’s just amazing.” When those big old stage lights came on in the proscenium arch theater, my whole heart leapt. I couldn’t wait to get to the next place to see somebody else do the same thing. And so I didn’t study anything, except for trying to be as good as Terry Reid, or Steve Marriott, or Steve Winwood, or so many people who are extraordinary singers.
Krauss: One big prom! [laughs]
Plant: But I think that’s part of the really big thing about you and I, Alison, is that we’ve leapt into each other, and it’s given me a great departure from finding myself typecast and in being challenged, which, despite its changes from time to time within the shows, just makes for a really good ride, I think.
Krauss: It’s never dull. [laughs]
Plant: I could be sort of far too serious about myself and sit in my dressing room with a star on the door, but that’s not why I do this. I do this because I only work with people who’ve got a big heart, and this is it. So it’s never dull. But if it’s dull, I’m not sticking around anyway.
You both have many previous Grammy wins and nominations. Do these awards matter to you? Does getting nominated enhance the project itself or make it more meaningful in any way?
Plant: I’ll leave that to you, Alison.
Krauss: I just think it’s always unexpected. You don’t figure it’s going to happen, that you get nominated. Like I always say, every record you make is like the only one you’re going to.
Plant: Yeah.
Krauss: And so it’s really nice to get that acknowledgement that people have heard it and like it. It’s always a relief.
Plant: And also the idea of us being considered to be a country duet is fascinating. The thing is, a nomination is a nomination — the very fact that it’s been recognized that we’ve had a good time is more than I could imagine. I didn’t get many Grammys… so to be nominated as a country duet is out of my normal radar. It’s great. I love it, and I also know that we did a pretty good job. I learned a lot, and continue to learn, which is what I want to do. I do think that’s pretty cool.
In 2009, Raising Sand won the Grammy for album of the year. Nominated in that category this year are artists like Lizzo, Beyoncé, Coldplay. Do you feel connected to those kinds of acts, or are you more at home in the country category? What’s your relationship to mainstream pop stars?
Plant: Not a lot. [laughs] It’s different worlds, isn’t it? That’s all it is. It’s just like, do you like this, or do you only appreciate stuff that come out of the Mississippi Delta or New Orleans? We’re all musicians; we all do what we do. You have to appreciate everything from where it stands in its own world.
Is there any chance of a third album from you two?
Plant: I can’t see any reason why not. I suppose if we wait another 14 years it could be a bit dicey for me, to be honest. I might find it a little bit difficult hitting a top C. But we can say it really works well, and we enjoy each other and that’s a great thing — so it seems like a great idea.
The 65th annual Grammy Awards will include the first-time category of songwriter of the year, with five nominees who are behind some of 2022’s biggest hits across genres. Below, each one in the running discusses the importance of spotlighting songwriters and their contributions, why this addition is long overdue and the bigger-picture impact the award will hopefully have on the industry moving forward.
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Amy AllenNominated writing credits: Lizzo, Harry Styles, King Princess, Alexander 23, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter
Amy Allen
Caity Krone
How did you feel when you heard about the new songwriter of the year category?
Songwriting is my dream job, and I’m so grateful to do it every single day, but I think you could ask any songwriter and I feel like we’ve all been waiting for this to happen, and we are just so excited that it’s finally a reality. It’s a massive win for us.
What was your reaction to being nominated?
I didn’t watch the livestream because I was too nervous. I was on a run and my manager called me mid-run and I thought it was a prank, I was like, “Stop, it’s not funny.” And I stopped for a minute and saw a bunch of text messages coming in from my family and friends. It was a very surreal feeling, for sure.
How does it feel to not only be nominated, but be nominated in a historic category?
I just feel so grateful to be representing songwriters for the first time, and I feel so grateful for every songwriter that has made this a possibility. I’m excited for songwriters in the future that this now exists. There’s definitely more of a weight to it than having a song chart [or play on] the radio or something. It’s more monumental.
How do you think this first year of the category will positively impact the industry?
When I was in high school, I didn’t even know this profession existed, really. So now, every time something gets added, like Spotify adding songwriter credits, it’s busting the door wide open for songwriters to come to the forefront and take this seriously and have faith that, “People are doing this, I can do this,” which I think is the greatest thing possible.
How might this nomination affect your career?
It’s just a lot of validation [that I’m] doing the right thing with my life. I think a lot of songwriters can relate to the fact that every day is an emotional roller coaster as a songwriter. It’s the greatest joy to be able to do what you love and what you’re passionate about, but that also comes with having pretty intense conversations every day with new people and carving out a piece of yourself and giving it away. It can be such a thankless career, in a lot of ways, so I’m really excited for the boost of confidence that it’s giving.
Nija CharlesNominated writing credits: Beyoncé, Summer Walker, City Girls, Lil Durk, Anitta & Missy Elliott, Meek Mill, Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa, Kehlani
Nija Charles
Edwig Henson
What did you feel when you heard about the new songwriter of the year category?
Relief. I felt like it was a huge win for every single one of us because every year we only have a slim chance to win a trophy. So when I heard about the songwriter of the year category, it actually made me want to work harder because I’m like, “OK, now we have a real shot of being recognized for our work.”
How did you react to being nominated?
Oh my gosh. I was on the sprinter on tour watching via Instagram Live and my heart was pounding. I mean, pounding. I haven’t felt that way in such a long time. It was Smokey Robinson and I’m like, “He’s about to announce songwriter of the year. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.” And then he mispronounced my name but I knew as soon as I heard it, I let out this big scream because my heart couldn’t take it. It was like I won a raffle or something. Or Bingo. It was like that moment when you’re just so surprised, like, “Oh my God, it’s me!”
How does it feel to not only be nominated, but be nominated in a historic category?
It makes it feel heavier. I even cried with my mom because we talked about history being made. It took a while to hit me, because it didn’t feel real. I’m one out of five of the first people ever to be songwriter of the year nominated. This is crazy.
How do you hope this affects the songwriting community going forward?
Everyone watches the Grammys, so when you see someone win a certain category, even if it’s someone you know, you look them up. So for songwriters, it gives us recognition and also lets the world know that songwriters are a thing … and to know that we’re all equal in the collaboration process.
What are your plans for the Grammys?
I plan to bring both of my grandmas — grannys and the Grammys. With this being such a big category, I realize I got to handle it like all the producers do for producer of the year, so I really want to go all out and celebrate. I want both my grandmothers to see what I’ve worked so hard for. I can’t wait.
Tobias Jesso Jr.Nominated writing credits: Harry Styles, Adele, FKA twigs, Orville Peck, King Princess, Diplo & TSHA, Omar Apollo
Tobias Jesso Jr.
Justin Chung
How did you learn you were nominated for songwriter of the year?
I just started getting a flood of texts. Julia Michaels was the first person to text me and tell me that I’d been nominated, and I just could not believe it. It was so outside of what I was expecting. It was amazing to be like, “Woah, this is a really tight group of people who have done a lot of songwriting therapy together, and everyone is rooting for each other.” I know I would be if it wasn’t my name on the list.
How might this nomination affect your career and help people discover your own work?
My biggest joy is getting the artist what they want, my joy was never being the artist, so I don’t know that I’m ever hoping anyone dives into the stuff that I’ve done. But if it leads people to the artists who I love that I’ve worked with that would be awesome. I get uneasy with the idea that people are even looking me up. My whole thing is trying to just be there for the artists and blend into the background and hopefully be of some use to them.
How do you think adding this category will positively affect the industry?
It’s a huge moment for songwriters. I think it’s going to continue to get bigger as people realize how much work songwriters put in and for the reasons that they do — songwriters don’t really get paid to go to work, they only get paid based on their work. And that’s based on what artists choose, so it’s a really risky business to be in and you have to really love it. It’s more of a therapy [than a business] for everyone I’ve worked with. And I think that’s the important part: people who have really poured their heart and soul into creating something that literally didn’t exist before they came around are getting recognized for the seed of the thing that gets produced and turns into an album. It’s almost like we were judging the plants based off the beauty, but it’s really the seeds that were being overlooked.
What does this first class of nominees represent?
Most of the time, I’m in a session and it’s a woman’s story [that] is driving the thing. I think what’s going to become pretty obvious to people over time, especially with this category in the mix now, is that women are running the songwriting world.
The-DreamNominated writing credits: Beyoncé, Brent Faiyaz, Pusha T
The-Dream
Ellington Hammond
Why was it so important to add the new songwriter of the year category?
I’ve been lobbying for it for a while, just based on the idea that there’s a producer of the year every year. And even though I produce as well, it’s one of those things I’ve been fighting for on the songwriter front because of how much work goes into it. Because it’s not just melody and lyrics, it’s ideas about what to say and giving people an identity. I don’t feel that a category can really cover the bases of something that cultural. It’s like we start things first and we get paid last.
What was your reaction to being nominated? Were you watching the livestream?
Oh no, I can’t take it. I’m like a baby, nobody realizes. I think it’s worse for me to win. This blackout thing has happened in the past where I’m like, “What?” It’s a psychological thing, but I’m so afraid that they’re going to say I won that my mind just goes blank. You’re trying to keep it cool and get to the stage and do your thing but you’re still blank. So I wasn’t looking at the livestream, that would give me a heart attack. And I’m definitely older than when I won my first one, so I’m trying to take it easy. I don’t want them to have to drag me to the Grammys.
How might this nomination help people discover your own work?
That’s number two. I only did an album as an artist [starting with 2007’s Love/Hate] to highlight songwriting, that was the main purpose of it. For me, I had this plan, but everybody can’t do that. So it’s really about this category highlighting the ones that you don’t see, but still understanding and respecting them when they show up. No matter who wins, take a deep dive into that person.
What do you think of this first class of nominees?
We’re just a sampling that represents something happening for the first year, but it doesn’t represent how many great years came before ours, before this one. That’s the bittersweet part. It’s a representation of years past, this year and the years going forward. There’s really a lot riding on it.
Laura VeltzNominated writing credits: Maren Morris, Demi Lovato, Ingrid Andress
Laura Veltz
Darling Juliet
Where were you when you learned about your songwriter of the year nomination?
I had just walked into a co-writing session, and I started getting so many text messages that just said, “Congratulations!” It took me a full three minutes to get the tea of what I actually got. Then I just fell to the ground. I was so shocked. [My co-writer Alysa Vanderheym] was getting like 50,000 phone calls just like I was, so our [other] co-writer was like, “You guys should just go celebrate.” So we did. We bailed on the session and celebrated and then I went home and hugged my husband. It was so special.
How do you think this category will positively affect the industry?
It’s just such a change for my community and such a change for the industry at large to have this on the ballot. It’s wild, too, because it’s such a community-driven thing. I’m watching my friends nominated in song categories. The song [of the year] nominations were really all we had for a long time. Then people like Ross Golan and so many others expanded it to having a larger body of work on an album that we suddenly are credited in that way. So seeing all these people getting these nominations and now the crown jewel of it — having its own very own category — it’s very humbling and beautiful. Then, when it comes to things on Capitol Hill and such, this might begin a new era where the recognition of the beginning of music — the writing of a song — might be a little bit more seen, [which] might lead to it being a little bit more valued.
Why is the timing of this new category so crucial?
I truly feel that the value of what a songwriter is could very well go extinct if we don’t put some actual value on what it is to write a song. Kids that are writing songs that are getting streamed millions of times, but they can’t keep their lights on at home, that’s not OK. I’m just grateful that this category is in play, and I’m really hoping it traces itself to how songwriters are paid.
Additional reporting by Jessica Nicholson.
A version of this story will appear in the Dec. 17, 2022, issue of Billboard.
Grammy voters, it’s time to do your due diligence and vote in the 65th annual Grammy Awards. Final round voting opened on Wednesday (Dec. 14) at 9 a.m. PT and continues until Jan. 4, 2023 at 6 p.m. PT. That may seem like a long voting window, but there are some major holidays in there that will compete for voters’ time and attention.
The 2023 Grammys telecast will be held on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, formerly (and more gracefully) known as Staples Center. It will mark the first time since 2020 that the Grammys have been back in the venue that has hosted all but four Grammy telecasts since 2000.
The Grammys’ three-week voting window in the final round is significantly longer than the Oscars’ five-day voting window in the final round (March 2-7, 2023). Advantage: Grammys. But final-round Grammy ballots are due a little more than a month before the big show, whereas final-round Oscar ballots are due just five days before the show, which is set for March 12. Advantage: Oscars.
As a result of these deadlines, the first Grammy votes will be submitted and locked (after which no changes are possible) on Dec. 14, a full seven weeks before the winners are revealed. By contrast, the first Oscar votes will be submitted and locked on March 2, just 10 days before the winners are announced. That allows voting in the Oscars to be timelier. Oscar voters have more of a chance to check out that movie they’ve been meaning to watch, for example.
There are five new Grammy categories this year, the biggest one-year spike in the number of categories in 28 years. The new categories are songwriter of the year, non-classical; best alternative music performance; best Americana performance; best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media; and best spoken word poetry album. There are 91 categories this year, the most since the Grammys purged 31 categories in 2011, dropping from a bloated 109 categories to a lean-and-mean 78.
Recording Academy voting members can vote in up to 10 categories across up to three fields on their ballot, in addition to all four categories in the General Field, better known as “The Big Four” – record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist. To help ensure the quality of Grammy voting, members are asked to vote only in their areas of expertise – but they are on the honor system to do so. There’s nothing to prevent a traditional pop enthusiast from voting in rap – or vice versa.
As they cast their votes, voting members will have the ability to stream nominated recordings on select streaming services, a welcome voting innovation in recent years.
The eligibility period for the 65th Grammy Awards was Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 – Friday, Sept. 30, 2022.
The 2023 Grammys will broadcast live on CBS – the Grammys’ network home since 1973 — and stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ from 8-11:30 p.m. ET / 5-8:30 p.m. PT.
Jack Antonoff, who won producer of the year, non-classical at the Grammy Awards in April, is back to defend his title. If he wins again at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 5, he’ll become the first person to win back-to-back awards in that category since Greg Kurstin in 2017-18.
He is competing with another past winner in the category, Dan Auerbach (who won in 2013), and three producers who are looking for their first wins in the category: Boi-1da, Dahi and D’Mile. Boi-1da has been nominated in this category before, but these are first nods in the category for Dahi and D’Mile.
Boi-1da has two nominations for album of the year (Beyoncé’s Renaissance and Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers). Dahi is also nominated for album of the year for his work on Lamar’s album. D’Mile is nominated in that category for his work on the deluxe edition of Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Antonoff has been in the running in this category. He’s the first producer or producing team to receive four consecutive nods in this category since Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis landed six straight nods (2000-05).
Thom Bell, one of the architects of the Philadelphia soul sound, was the first winner in this category, in 1975. Babyface is the only four-time winner in the category’s history. He won once with his partner L.A. Reid and three times on his own. David Foster, Quincy Jones and Pharrell Williams are three-time category champs.
Let’s take a closer look at this year’s nominees for producer of the year, non-classical.
Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar shared a Grammy for best music video seven years ago for the visual for their smash collab “Bad Blood.” This year, they’re competing in that category – and both would achieve major firsts if they won.
Swift, nominated for “All Too Well: The Short Film,” would become the first artist to win for a video on which she or he was the sole director.
Lamar, nominated for “The Heart Part 5,” would become the first three-time winner as an artist in the category’s history and the first two-time winner as a co-director. He co-directed the clip with Dave Free.
Lamar and Swift are competing in a second category this year — song of the year. Lamar is nominated for co-writing “The Heart Part 5,” Swift for co-writing “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film).”
Let’s take a closer look at the competition in the two video categories, best music video and best music film.
Best music video
Nominees: Adele’s “Easy on Me” (Xavier Dolan, director); BTS’ “Yet to Come (Yong Seok Choi, director); Doja Cat’s “Woman” (Child., director); Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5” (Dave Free & Lamar, directors); Harry Styles’ “As It Was” (Tanu Muino, director); Swift’s “All Too Well: The Short Film” (Swift, director).
Four artists have won best music video for videos they co-directed. Missy Elliott co-directed “Lose Control,” the 2005 winner, with Dave Meyers. OK Go co-directed “Here It Goes Again” (2006) with Trish Sie. Lamar co-directed “Humble.” (2017) with Free, his partner in The Little Homies and Meyers. Beyoncé co-directed “Brown Skin Girl” (2020) with Jenn Nkin.
But Swift would break new ground, becoming the first artist to win for an entirely self-directed video.
If Swift wins, she’d become the seventh artist to win twice in the category (as an artist, without regard to who directed the clips). She would follow Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Johnny Cash, Lamar and Beyoncé.
If Lamar were to win, he’d become the first three-time winner as an artist. He first won for “Bad Blood,” which was directed by Joseph Kahn. He next won for “Humble.,” which he co-directed with Free and Meyers. As noted above, he co-directed “The Heart Part 5” with Free.
Adele could also join the club of two-time winners (as an artist). She won the 2011 award for “Rolling in the Deep.”
Best music film
Nominees: Adele’s Adele One Night Only (Paul Dugdale, director); Justin Bieber’s Our World (Michael D. Ratner, director); Billie Eilish’s Billie Eilish Live at the O2 (Sam Wrench, director); Rosalía’s Motomami (Rosalía Tiktok Live Performance) (Ferrán Echegaray, Rosalía Vila Tobella and Stillz, directors); Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s A Band A Brotherhood A Barn (Daryl Hannah, director); and the Various Artists film Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story (Frank Marshall & Ryan Suffera, directors).
In this category, two artists have won for films they co-directed, but again no artist has won for an entirely self-directed film. Alanis Morissette won for Jagged Little Pill, Live (1997), which she co-directed with Steve Purcell. Beyoncé won for Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce (2019) which she co-directed with Ed Burke.
Spanish superstar Rosalía could join that short list this year. She is nominated for Motomami (Rosalía Tiktok Live Performance), which she co-directed with Ferrán Echegaray and Stillz.
This is Daryl Hannah’s first nomination for an EGOT-level award. The veteran actress and budding director directed her husband Neil Young’s music film.
Picking up her phone on a Friday afternoon, Brandi Carlile sounds about as genuine as she ever has when she politely says, “I’m doing really well.”
“Doing well” is likely an understatement — when Billboard chats with the “Right on Time” singer, she is two days away from performing with her “greatest hero of all time” Elton John for his farewell U.S. show at Dodger Stadium. “I feel I am being given one of the greatest gifts of my life by getting to do that,” she says, exasperated. “He gave me an unspeakable honor of getting to sing with him … I will never forget it.”
She’s also coming off of a personal career-high; last week, Carlile earned seven Grammy nominations, tying pop diva Adele for the third-most nominations of the year. Earning more nominations than she ever has in a single year, including in the record and album of the year categories, the Americana categories and her first-ever rock nominations, Carlile sums up her experience with a simple thought: “It is … crazy. Like, really crazy.”
Carlile spoke with Billboard about her record-setting nominations, the importance of community in the Americana genre, and why she’s working on “bridging that gap” between younger generations and sometimes underappreciated musical icons like Joni Mitchell and Tanya Tucker.
Let’s go ahead and jump in — congratulations on seven Grammy nominations! How does it feel knowing you’re tied with Adele for the third-most nominations of anyone?
It’s extremely life-affirming, and it does a lot more for me than I even want it to, if that makes sense? There is an emotional validation that comes with that, where I feel like I shouldn’t be putting that much credence in accolades like that. But it just feels really really nice, and I’ve been having a very lovely past few days because of it.
The part that I kind of am annoyed with myself about is how nervous I got the night before the nominations. I was thinking about it and stressing about it, and at some point, I was like, “B–ch, you are in your 40’s. Calm down. This doesn’t make or break you.” I didn’t wanna care, but I really did!
It must feel amazing, especially because this is the most nominations you’ve received in a single year, and it’s all for your solo work on In These Silent Days.
Yeah, it is incredibly affirming for the record — and for my band, and for Shooter [Jennings] and Dave [Cobb] who produced the record with me. It was really fun when they were announcing all of the album of the year nominees, and we only took up like three lines of the screen — there’s so few of us, we’re such a little engine that could! I was really proud of that! I just remember every step of the way to this place, and I have enjoyed it the whole time.
This year also marks your return to the Americana categories after a brief foray into the pop categories last year with your best pop solo performance nomination for “Right on Time.” I know you’ve spoken about your displeasure at being excluded from Americana; why is that genre representation so important for you?
God, this is gonna sound so f–king Pollyanna. But for me, it’s about community — it’s where you build your house, it’s where you work and cultivate your friends, you collaborate with each other, you sacrifice for each other, you love each other’s victories. After a point, you kind of earn the right to say, “This is my home, these are my people, I belong here,” even if you use an electric guitar on a song or two.
It’s just a home base thing, for me — I’ve built my whole life within this community, including my family and my kids. We’re just rooted in our Americana people. And what Americana really is is a rejection of some of the exclusive tenets of country music — I mean that politically, I mean that sonically. In terms of diversity, Americana is where you’re gonna see it the most.
It’s interesting, because along with going back to Americana, these are also your first-ever rock nominations, for “Broken Horses” — I imagine that would feel like a better label than pop for your music.
Yeah, I feel like there’s a very clear bridge between these two genres that we are crossing constantly. Our heroes have done it, too — we’ve got someone like Elton John doing Tumbleweed Connection; Lucinda Williams doing Car Wheels On A Gravel Road; Dave Grohl showing up in Americana collaborations; even just the overarching concept of Tom Petty as a bridge between rock and Americana. I always say that Americana is a community and an idea, but T-Bone Burnett told me when I was in my early 20’s, “If anybody ever asks you what kind of music you play, immediately say rock n’ roll.” Because he was saying that rock n’ roll is all encompassing, and that it isn’t a genre, it’s a risk you take.
Outside of the Grammys, you have so much going on — your Tanya Tucker documentary came out last month, and you recently announced that Joni Mitchell will be performing with you at the Gorge next summer. You have a unique ability to bridge generational gaps between younger fans and these incredible legends; why prioritize that in your career?
That’s interesting — it sort of leans into my major ideals of feminism and ageism and the way that we get pushed out of our chosen field at a certain age, particularly women and not nearly as often men. So I find so much value and wisdom and character and audacity in these incredible voices. Like, Joni Mitchell’s voice no longer being that high soprano, and now existing in this sort of baritone space, or Tanya Tucker having the most rugged cowboy voice in country music; these are people who are seen for their “peak moments” that came to them much younger than it would have for men.
So, I see so much value in bridging that gap between the older generation of way-pavers in rock and Americana and us in the younger generations as more of a gift than anything else. Like, it’s a privilege to watch someone like Joni have this resurgence, and to see her work affect someone like Olivia Rodrigo — who is, in turn, so graceful about honoring her heroes.
Even just the thought of you performing with Joni for a full show is so exciting to me. What can fans expect from that show next year?
It’s going to be absolutely incredible, because it really is going to be just like Newport — the community around Joni, and the jokes, and the stories, and the laughs, and the Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, and eventually, Joni singing whenever the f–k Joni decides she wants to sing. It’s gonna be so loose that it’s almost more special than a concert, because you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a voyeuristic thing, because we’re allowing people to basically see into a living room jam session.
When the 65th annual Grammy nominations were announced last week, 12 groups or duos received two or more nods. They include some of the biggest bands in the world — but the group that received the most nods may surprise you.
The groups represented on this list hail from a wide range of genres – alternative music, dance/electronic, R&B, rock and metal, Americana, contemporary Christian and gospel and contemporary instrumental.
There are three duos on the list (Wet Leg, Nova Wav and DOMi & JD Beck). The largest ensembles on the list are the nine-member Maverick City Music and the seven-member BTS.
Two of these acts – Wet Leg and DOMi & JD Beck – are nominated for best new artist. Two more – Idles and Turnstile – vied for nominations in that category but fell short.
Some of these groups were boosted by their involvement with other artists. Lucius received all three of their nominations for work with Brandi Carlile. Nova Wav received both of theirs for work with Beyoncé.
Want to know the groups or duos that have won the most Grammys? U2 is the top group with 22 Grammys, followed by Foo Fighters (15), Alison Krauss & Union Station (14), The Chicks (12), Pat Metheny Group (10) and Emerson String Quartet (nine).
Coldplay has won seven Grammys. They are nominated for three more this year. If they win them all, they’ll tie Pat Metheny Group for fifth place on the leaderboard.
Without further ado, here are the groups or duos that received two or more Grammy nominations this year.
Gayle must have had mixed emotions when the 65th annual Grammy nominations were announced last week. Her delightful pop smash “abcdefu” was nominated for song of the year, but she was passed over for a best new artist nod.
Gayle would not have been the first artist to have a “Oh great!!! – wait – what?” reaction – a blend of delight, disappointment and confusion. Since 2000, this is the 13th instance of a new artist who was entered and eligible for best new artist and was passed over for a nod in that category, but got one in song of the year.
Why has this happened so often? In the years that a select committee made the final choices in the Big Four categories – album, record and song of the year plus best new artist – the committee members may have consciously or subconsciously tried to “share the wealth.” They may have figured one nomination in a marquee category was enough in many cases, so why not let another artist have some shine?
In the past two years, the nominations have been determined strictly by voting members of the Recording Academy, but that kind of thinking could still be in play.
When a new artist is nominated for song of the year but not for best new artist, it leaves an impression (whether intended or not) that the nominating committee – and now the voters – liked that one song very much, but they weren’t sure that the artist would have a big future. If that was the thought process, in some cases it was more or less right. In others, it was very wrong. Sara Bareilles and Lorde, both of whom were passed over for best new artist nods, both went on to receive album of the year nominations. Other artists who have amassed Grammy nods since being passed over for best new artist in their rookie years are Miguel, Estelle and Ella Mai.
Note: Ed Sheeran was nominated for song of the year in 2012 for writing “The A Team,” but he was passed over for a best new artist nod that year. The Academy allowed him a second year of eligibility for best new artist (when his debut album dropped) and he was nominated in 2013. Since he was eventually nominated for best new artist, we left him off this list.
Let’s scroll back through the new artists who were nominated for song of the year but were passed over for best new artist nods. All of these artists were entered and eligible for best new artist in these years. The last data point tells you how many nominations the artist has received since their rookie year. (That tally doesn’t count nominations from their rookie year.)